Kick Those Balls™: August 2012

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

EPL Hot Summer Transfer'12: Robin van Persie

Robin van Persie is an explosive striker who has been playing for Arsenal since 2004. We call him "RvP or "Arsenal." He is called "Arsenal" himself because this man has led and represented Arsenal for a number of years. Here are some numbers. RvP has made 277 appearances total on Arsenal's side where he scored 132 goals and 62 assists. Now, we are on the same page. He is powerful. Some fans call him "God Persie."

But, there was always one negative thing that followed his fame. He was vulnerable to injuries. He would never go ahead and finish the full season without getting injured. Surprisingly, this was not the case in the 2011/2012 Season. RvP proved everyone wrong by finishing as the top goal-scorer in the Premier League with 30 goals. By the end of the season, he became Arsenal's 8th all-time top scorer with 132 goals. On the national side, RvP played 68 games for the Dutch and scored 29 goals.

RvP Leaves Arsenal for Manchester United:
After spending about 8 years on Arsenal's side, RvP chose to say goodbye to Arsenal and hello to Manchester United. Sir Alex of Man Utd. signed RvP for £24 million in a 4-year contract. Man Utd fans were delighted to have the top-scorer of the previous season. On the other hand, many Arsenal fans turned their backs on RvP and blamed him for his lack of loyalty.

Issues of Loyalty:

As a professional footballer, it is in his nature to choose a football club which suits his interest and style. RvP realized that he wouldn't win a single trophy if he stayed with the Gunners. He simply followed his self-interest and chose Man Utd in hopes of finally winning a trophy in his career. We all know how much RvP has done for the club. For god's sakes, we called RvP "Arsenal." He carried the team on his back throughout the season as the Captain. My opinion is that football fans should respect RvP's decision. If you say that it is impossible to respect his decision, then at least he deserves to be free from all the boo'ing on the pitch. He is a world class footballer who wants to accomplish many things before he retires. Although Man Utd is a huge competitor to Arsenal, RvP reserves the right to join another football club which satisfies his needs. He has done enough for Arsenal.

Lucky for Man United:

Sir Alex is a lucky man. With RvP on Man Utd's side, the team is now solid. It is still a question whether or not RvP will be as powerful with Man Utd as he was with Arsenal. But, it is certain that RvP's existence itself has already made a big contribution to the club's morale. Chicharito, Berbatov and Welbeck will push themselves even harder to survive the fierce competition.

With RvP's move to Man Utd, the Barclays Premier League has definitely become more interesting than ever.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

EPL Hot Summer Transfer'12: Eden Hazard

This news made many Chelsea fans happy: Eden Hazard of Belgium transferred from Lille to Chelsea.

Supporters and fans of the Barclays Premier League must be delighted to have such a young, brilliant talent join the league. Hazard has his reputation for creativity, speed, and technical ability. He is a powerful Attacking Midfielder who knows how to score. He can also play as a Winger. He is a football genius who made his professional debut in November 2007 at the age of 16. While his stay at Lille, he has made 192 total appearances where he scored 50 goals and 38 assists. How old is this monster right now? He's only 21 years old. In despite of his young age, he has won quite a number of awards, including the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Young Player of the Year Award twice in a row, the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year and the Bravo Award. Aside from his professional football club experience, he is also a star player of the Belgian National Football Team. He has made 28 total appearances where he scored 2 goals and 8 assists.

Eden Hazard: the Man of £32m:

Robert Di Matteo signed him for £32m. We all know he is a brilliant player and he has proved his talent in Ligue 1 at such a young age. But, is he actually worth that much? Let me give you something to compare this to. The explosive striker of Argentina National, Sergio Kun Aguero went from Athletico Madrid to Man City for £35m. Radamel Falcao: FC Porto to Athletico Madrid £35.2m. Let me throw more numbers at you. Radamel Falcao transferred from FC Porto to Athletico Madrid for £35.2m and Javier Pastore went from Palermo to Paris Saint-Germain for £36.7m in 2011. These players were "big shots" at the time who were wanted by many other football clubs. Were these players worth the money? Hell yes, they made the right investment to sign these star players. But what about Eden Hazard? It is still a question.

Hey Chelsea, Why Hazard?:
For quite a number of years, Chelsea was criticized for being too "old." The criticism was that they had too many old players who should be retiring. During the last season, it was clear to everyone that Chelsea was losing their stamina and explosive energy. Some young key players started joining Chelsea, such as Oriol Romeu, Gary Cahill, Juan Mata, Marko Marin and Oscar. But, I must say Eden Hazard is Roman Abramovich's actual first step in rebuilding of Chelsea. Hazard is arguably the most exciting young creative talent in Europe at the moment. He will definitely make a good contribution to the new rejuvenated Chelsea.

Will Hazard be successful at Chelsea?:
Petr Cech has tweeted once, "New Chelsea players must show that they deserve to be here." Of course, these new players cannot destroy what the older generation of Chelsea has achieved thus far. But, Robert Di Matteo seems to want to take a step back and watch. He said, "Of course we are looking for Eden to be incisive, but we have to be patient." Di Matteo wants to give Hazard enough time for him to adjust to the rigours of the Barclays Premier League. It is true that he has proved his worth in Ligue 1. But, he has never played in the Barclays Premier League. There definitely exists a difference between the two leagues. His performance in EPL is a mystery, but his probability of success in EPL is quite high. I say Chelsea must take Hazard as a long-term investment. He is still very young, and he has many more exciting years to come. His time will come.

EPL Hot Summer Transfer'12: Ji Sung Park

This news took many by surprise: Ji Sung Park of South Korea transferred from Manchester United to Queens Park Rangers.

As many readers may already know, Park is known to be one of the most successful Asian footballers in history. When Park scored a crucial goal in the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals of PSV Eindhoven vs. AC Milan, Park's talents were broadcasted and recognized by the world. While the chance was still open, Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United immediately signed Park from PSV Eindhoven for £4 million. Ever since then, he has won the Barclays Premier League 4 times, Carling Cup 3 times, FA Community Shield twice, UEFA Champions League once and FIFA Club World Cup once. As a Manchester United midfielder, Park has made 205 total appearances where he scored 27 goals, which is quite an impressive accomplishment.

Now the question is... Why did he leave Manchester United?
- Although Ferguson thought highly of Park's defensive skills for the past 7 years, Manchester United was in dire need of goals and aggressive tactics as they were either behind Manchester City or not far ahead of Manchester City most of the season. In 2011/2012 Season, Ferguson decided to put Park on the bench for most of the league games. Park suffered a reduction in his number of appearances, which killed his self-confidence on the pitch. Park did play from time to time, but it was not good enough for the man with big dreams and high standards. The answer is simple. He left Manchester United in order to get more play time.

What was the major event for Park's decision?
- On 30 April 2012, there was the death match between Manchester United and Manchester City, also known as the Manchester derby. This game was perceived to be the most crucial for Manchester United's title defence. After missing many matches, Park was chosen as a starting member for the killer match. This demonstrated to Park that he was still considered to be an integral part of the team. Because Manchester United would have defended their title with just a draw, Ferguson decided to play a little bit more on the defensive side, therefore putting Park in the midfield for defence reinforcement. However, it was not the same Ji Sung Park that we had known before. He was tired and rusty as a result of a lack of appearances. The game ended in Manchester United's 0-1 loss, which gave away the title to Manchester City. Although most of other Manchester United players performed very poorly, Park was the one who took most of the blame.

Will he be successful at Queens Park Rangers?
- Many footballers and professionals have all agreed that Park has proven his ability to excel in the English Premier League. There is no doubt that he will be successful at QPR. As the new key player of QPR, his appearances are almost guaranteed this time. Mark Hughes, the Manager of QPR, has announced that Ji Sung Park has a large chance of being made the new Captain of QPR in absence of the former captain, Joey Barton. Aside from Park's 7 years of expertise at Manchester United, Park has made 100 appearances as a member of the South Korean National Team where he scored 13 goals, 3 of which were goals scored in 3 consecutive World Cups (WC 2002, WC 2006, WC 2010). He has had his success as the Captain of the Korean National Team with his leadership. Also, he has had experience occasionally leading Manchester United as the Captain. According to Hughes, all of the players and coaching staff look up to Park's accumulated experience and skills. Now, it seems that it is a matter of time till we see the first Asian footballer to be made Captain of a football club in the English Premier League. Only time will tell.

Ji Sung Park Is Still Alive:
Park is a flexible midfielder who can play anywhere across the midfield. He has a world reputation for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic and off-the-ball movement as well as his defensive play. He is known as "the man with 2 lungs" for his stamina and selfless play on the pitch. This was evident when Park defensively "erased" the existence of the world class midfielder Andrea Pirlo of AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League'10. As Rio Ferdinand tweeted over and over again, "When Park Ji Sung played against Pirlo at the San Siro, I swear it was a master class in man marking....Pirlo would of seen Ji in his sleep!" (Watch his performance vs. Pirlo here: http://manutube.net/2012/07/09/ac-milan-game-was-park-ji-sungs-greatest-performance-ferdinand/) After Park's move to QPR, many Manchester United players have said the same thing: "Now we know who to watch out for when we play against QPR."
Ji Sung Park is still alive. His reputation will continue on, but this time on the QPR side. You can lose form, but class never dies.